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Saturday, September 14, 2013

You can’t escape who you are, but no one ever stops to explain to you the cost of discovering such knowledge. By the time Gwen learns that her fiery red hair marks her as more than just a bad temper on two legs it’s too late to make a choice. Catapulted into a realm she doesn’t understand thanks to the actions of those around her, Gwen is forced to embrace an unknown legacy and rely on the word of an old friend who is more than he seems. Will the price of self-discovery prove too much for Gwen to bear? And how do you save the world when everything feels just out of reach.

This is where it all starts to
hit the fan! As she crosses the landing into her lab Gwen leaves her reality
behind and steps into the hidden world she never knew existed. Tonight she
comes face to face with the monsters lurking in the shadows. While she may be
ignorant, she finds out she is certainly not helpless.

I get so excited about this
scene because it’s that moment in the story where everything changes for the
main character: up and down realign and they are forced to catch up. Shortly after
this Gwen is introduced to the different wanderers, whom I absolutely adore and
can’t wait for you all to meet as well.

“Gwen, don’t
you ever sleep?” he asks, rolling his eyes at me. “If I wasn’t so fond of you,
I’d kick you out more often, lass. There’s more to life than working, ya know.”

“I know, Bill,
and I appreciate your sentiment, but I couldn’t sleep and for some reason work
relaxes me.”

“Go on then,
and try to be out before sun up, alright?” Winking at me, he returns his
attention to the magazine in his lap.

“Will do.”

I make a
beeline for the elevators since the stairs are dark and creepy at night. As the
doors of the lift slide shut behind me, I roll my notebook around in my hands
and try to settle into work mode. My last shift was an utter failure and I do a
quick recap in my mind. As the elevator dings and I step out onto level 3,
heading for my lab, I’m already constructing a game plan, devised from what had
gone wrong and what had gone right the last time. I’m so lost in my own head
that I don’t even notice the lights are already on inside.

Stepping through the door and onto the lab’s
landing, I look around and drop my notebook.

I have just
stepped into a war zone. The destruction and sheer chaos is astounding.

I continue to
stand there, mouth agape, convinced I must be dreaming. Broken glassware and
instruments are strewn about. Cabinets lining the walls are dented with doors
askew, some barely hanging on by their hinges. One of the giant refrigerators
has been knocked over, and its contents are now seeping out across the floor.
The mayhem is reminiscent of a World War II movie, only instead of dead,
mangled bodies, test tubes and beakers litter the floor.

And at the
heart of the room, behind what’s left of the central worktable, two men are
wrestling in the debris.

Gripped by
fury and without regard to my own safety, I charge down the steps screaming at
them, “What the hell are you doing?!”

Both men look
up at me, startled. Having temporarily stopped their grappling match, the
larger of the two men takes a step back, distancing himself from his opponent.
Both men are thickly muscled and dark-complected. Where the larger one is
fierce, with a malevolent quality, the smaller one (and I say “smaller” in very
loose terms) is passionate and moves with a grace unusual in one his size.

While I am
absolutely positive I have never laid eyes on either one of these men before in
my life, something about the smaller man feels familiar.

“Look, I don’t
care which one of you walks away with the UFC title tonight, just get the fuck
out of my lab!”

Heedless of
the danger in confronting these men, I march ever closer to them, righteous anger
overriding self-preservation. Without warning, the larger man bounces back,
away from me, shrieking like an animal in pain. The ear splitting sound stops
me dead in my tracks. Shaking my head and blinking twice to clear my vision, I
stare at him again.

Impossible,
but I could have sworn his outline became fuzzy for a second, almost like a
mirage. The smaller man capitalizes on my brief lapse of attention. Moving with
inhuman speed, he pushes a table out of the way and grabs me, pinning my back
against his chest. I’m totally immobilized. I struggle in vain against him
while we both continue to stare at the larger man who has taken another step
back. Shaking me until I stop moving, my captor leans his head closer to my
ear, his hot breath making my skin crawl.

“Do not be
afraid of me.”

Author Jocelyn Stover is giving away 10 autographed paperback copies of Out of Reach
to celebrate the upcoming release of A Step Away (Wanderer Series #2)! As
an added bonus, there are LOTS of chances for extra entries!!!

I'm a thoughtful, sarcastic, work-o-holic, mother of four. I must thrive on
chaos because I've certainly built enough of it into my life already! I write
during the stolen mintures of the day when the children are in bed or at
school. When I'm not writing you can find me up to no good with my kiddos, or
outside soaking up the sunshine.